SFPD bicycle training video

San Francisco cops tell cyclists to "take the lane" for safety.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and the San Francisco Police Department worked to create this outstanding police training video on the rights and responsibilities of cyclists in San Francisco. Cyclists are instructed to ride "about four feet away from parked cars when you're riding your bicycle," to report instances of driver intimidation, and report injury accidents. This video is used at the San Francisco Police Academy and at district stations around the city.

2. "I'll catch up to the motorist, you catch up to the guy on the bicycle." simply means "I'm going to stop up here, you go ALL THE WAY down the street to get that guy". He was greedy by taking the easy catch.

3. When the police officer catches up to the guy down the street, if you look further down the street, there is a car parked facing the wrong direction. I know in many cities that is an offense that can be ticketed.

4. "Bet you coffee" is illegal gambling. The police are not setting a good example.

5. At 6:16 remaining, there is obviously a car with it's hazards on in the bike lane.

6. At 4:56 remaining, you can clearly see the same car parked illegally in the street.

7. The cyclist who was intimidated should have kept what was thrown at him. A littering fine would add insult to injury.

8. The girl hit that hit the car is wearing a microphone on her sweatshirt. Seems sketchy, maybe she's working undercover for the SFPD in some type of insurance fraud scheme.

9. When the group exclaims "Bikes Belong In Traffic, Share The Road", they are obviously taking up the entire road. This can create an unsafe environment for all and is probably illegal.

Thanks for the post; cool video. It would be nice if they'd include something along those lines in driver's education courses. I've had 3 kids go through driver's ed and none of them have every gotten any information on how to drive around cyclists. I'll try to remember this link for the next 2 kid sessions.